Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-04-13
JOHN BRIGHT ON WARS.
The Great Peace Apostle Reviews the
Useless struggles OF Queen VictOria's
Reign.


Prom the London Standard.
Mr.. Bright presided last night at the Friends
Meeting House. In ST. Martins lane, where large
audience had assembled TO hear lecture by Mr..
William Jones' member of the Peace society, on
1.-THE Late War Panic in Europe, and its Lessons"
At the conclusion Of the lecture John Bright said:
''With regard to this question of peace we are
really as far off forefathers were and nearIyas
savage and barbarous. A French statesman, a
member OF the French chamber, said, speaking of
England and its foreign policy, that we were in
state OF peace he'd By occasional acts OF rapine
(Laughter.l That phrase 10 a large extent de-
Scr1bes the condition In which our country has
been during the whole reign OF the queen. Sir
Robert Peel Is the only practical peace prime min
lister have known la nearly forty -four years have
been In the house OF commons, and recolleet the
dressed the house OF commons on one occasion when
there were differences with theU nited States which
differences were fortunately arranged, and peace
was preserved. Now, how many wars have we
had during the queens reign? We have had war in
New Zealand, and | recOllect clergyman OF the
Church OF England telling me how shocked and
horrf1ed his sOn-OIe OF the officers engaged-was
on one occasion at seeing the dead body OF a New
Zealand woman who had been killed fighting by
the side OF her husband her brother against us,
in war I'm which that officer obliged TO admit
that the New Zealanders were entirely right and
We were entirely wrong. We have had three wars
in China. We had a Zulu war not long ago, made
absolutely by man without any orders from this
country, a man who professed to be really influ-
enced by the Christian faith and religion. That
cost us a great many English lives, and we de-
stroyed the Zulu nation, at the same time
bringing confusion into that part OF South Africa.
We have had a Scind war, in which one OF the
NapierS was concerned, war for which he had
not the slightest justification or instruction from
this country. Then there was the great Sikh war,
by which the Punjaub was annexed to the Eng
lish dominion in India There were also TWO
Afghan wars, for which there was not a particle OF
Justification in one Of which whole English
army was destroyed We heard during MI. Jones'
address something about the cruelty to animals in
no last va no
10000 camels were destroyed You can easily
imagine what they must have suffered. to say
dams, who must have suffered enormously also.
Then We have had three Burmese wars, the second
OF which feeoIlecs was got up on pretenSes aoSo
"Then we come 10 the Crinlean war, the really
big war OF our time, though il did not last very
long. But as to It's severity and the mortality
caused by 1t no man is able to make an accurate
computation. book written by French gen.
eral, who lately visited the Crimea in connection
With the cemeteries there estimates that the
bodies OF 100000 men are lying there. believe
the Russians alone buried more than 100000 on
the north side Of SebaStopOl and the 2oO 900 does
not include the vast number OF Turks who died in
hospital at Scutari, or the tens OF thousands OF
Russians who died In their long marches from
the north to re-enforce their army at SebastopOi.
Kinglake, in his history, estimates That one
million men lost their lives in that struggle,
a number about equal TO every adult man
were all these lives sacrificed for? AbSO-
lutely nothing whatever, because the only ap-
the Russian government with regard to its
future fleet In The Black sea, and that was sur
rendered the moment the Franco-German war
broke out: for the emperor or Russia knew
that England herself could not insist On the
Continuance OF the limitations. There was a
meeting OF statesmen, as they are called, III this
city and the limitation was withdrawn and
Russia is row just as free In every respect
as she was before the Crimean war. Since then
We have had little OF what is called military
operations in Egypt 1t was not wal. because
war never declared, but we made war, not
withstanding, on country with which we We're
bardment Of Alexandria was sort OF peace which
the public OF this country have not been enthus-
iisti. about. The french feet left and would have
nothing to do with IT, The admiral and all the fleet
were furious when they thought that the Egg ptians
were going to surrende, and that there would be no
Fighting. You viii md that in the blue books and
In The newspapers. The b0mbaTdment took place.
a number OF people were killed. the city was partly
burnt down and then there followed the war in the
Soudan, during which, at the lowest calculation,
from 1000 TO 80, 600 lives were lost. once pro-
posed that the foreign Office should be burnt down.
and IL would be very good thing II all its treaties
We're burned with it, Conceive the cost of the
wars that have occurred within the reign OF the
Queen Go back further. TO the first beginning, of
What call our parliamentary and constitutional
system in the reign OF William H., and you will
ind that without one single exception they We're
absolutely unnecessary, and that the only result
they have produced is an enormous national debt,
which frcIn that time TO this has been extracted
from the labor and the sweat OF millions OF men in
this country, but which should have remained
with them for the suStenance and comfort of
themselves and their families.
sit would be The greatest possible qualification
to all here II We could believe that Tor the next
fifty years or hundred years war should be I'M
known in the policy OF England, and that as we
have led the nations in some branches OF cOnstitu-
tional freedom we might, in conjunction with our
brethren IN the United states and with all Eng
disappearing nations OF the world-for before long
there Will b. English-Speaking nations besides
England and the United StateS-acting together,
lead the world In the direction and for the per-
petuai exclusion Of war from the policy OF man
kind"